A programme is regarded as an integrated package of courses and activities in an academic or professional field leading to a qualification. However, organizational arrangements in institutions differ and there are sometimes questions about what should be considered as a programme.

A programme includes all of the courses a student is required to take for a qualification, including courses that are required by an institution or a college, as well as those required by a department. This often includes general education courses as well as those in a professional or academic field. It may also include courses that may be offered as service courses.

A programme may have an early exit point, for example, it may be possible for students to complete two years of study and receive a diploma or to continue for several more years and complete a bachelor’s degree. If this is done, it is essential that the diploma be planned so that it provides a complete and useful qualification in its own right. For example, it might include significantly more practical and applied work in the field than students would normally undertake in the first two years of a bachelor’s degree programme. It is not acceptable for such an award to be granted simply because students fail or drop out after the early parts of a longer programme.